Devotions (Page 11)

Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. 36 Simon and his companions went to look for him, 37 and when they found him, they exclaimed: “Everyone is looking for you!” Mark 1:35-37  The Scriptures reveal a glimpse into Jesus’ life. He was one that got up early to go and pray. It is interesting that Jesus spent much time in prayer in the morning and throughout…

Lately, I’ve been quite interested in ballet dancers. There’s a group of them from a studio in Arizona that have gotten quite popular on YouTube, and for good reason. They have impeccable technique, tremendous strength, and win many competitions, but they are just kids. We admire their talent but often forget that they have been training in ballet for most of their lives. The videos we see are just their highlights and leave out the hours and years they’ve spent…

How’s your fast going? Is it difficult? If your answer is yes, I think you’re on the right track. During this year’s fast, the Holy Spirit has been revealing to me that I am going through a change in my body, mind and spirit. I felt the Lord tell me that I was going through Spiritual Ketosis.  For those of you who don’t know what Ketosis is, it is a metabolic state that occurs when your body burns fat for…

I’d like to propose that Patient Endurance is not something we just need to think about for the year of 2024… it’s not a thing we’ll do every now and then. Although we’ve sensed the Lord highlighting it to us for this year, it’s not merely a theme or a trending phrase at Lifespring. Patient Endurance is a way of life. We talk a LOT about how Jesus endured the cross, right? Even here, the author of Hebrews is reminding…

Dear LifeSpring Family, As some of us patiently endure and wait upon the Lord, the below liturgy for Seasons of Uncertainty reminded me that there is More Beyond.   In the midst of whatever follows, O Lord,let me meet your mercies anew,and anew, and anew.In the midst of my dismay, fix my eyes againand again upon your eternal promises. How this ends—that is up to you.If the next news is favorable, I willpraise you for the ongoing gift of life.If tomorrow’s…

The memory verse for the church family for the 1st quarter is: When the Lord your God brings you into the land he swore to your fathers… a land with large, flourishing cities you did not build, 11 houses filled with all kinds of good things you did not provide, wells you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves you did not plant — then when you eat and are satisfied, 12 be careful that you do not forget the Lord, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the…

During January, we’ve had messages about our annual theme of “Patient Endurance” that we’ll be focusing on for the upcoming year. Personally, near the end of last year I felt like God was challenging me on one aspect related to patient endurance, and it had to do with growing in the fear of the Lord. First off, I think it’s important to understand how the fear of the Lord is different from the normal kind of fear. When we normally think…

I realize that we’ve already passed the halfway mark of this month, so maybe it feels silly to consider the new year when it’s more… new-ish now. But this specific reflection seems to keep surfacing for me and I’m wondering if it might also resonate with some of you as well!  As I had some conversations with my closest friends, we chatted a bit about our theme words for the year. I dunno about you, but in the past I’ll…

Last week, I had the opportunity to take Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) training online. MHFA is quite similar to first aid, where you try to stablize/provide temporary relief to someone injured until help arrives, except you’re trying to help people with mental health challenges. This was my first time taking live online training, and I have to say that it was excellent. I had a great instructor who brought the course material to life and taugh us many useful…

As I was studying Matthew 26, I felt like the Lord was highlighting 2 important aspects of Patient Endurance. The context and setting of this chapter is dark and dreary. It is the moments leading up to Jesus’ arrest and crucifixion. It is the Last Supper and over and over again, Jesus is telling his disciples that his life would be forfeit and that there is a traitor amongst them. In the midst of this great challenge, what did Jesus…

Dear LifeSpring Family, Earlier this week, our group discussed lesson 12 in the Lead Well study series. The title of the lesson is What Are Core Values? From the lesson, it reminds us that:  Core values can be understood through a variety of images. They are like: I made the observation that we all are guided by our core values. Whether we articulate them, write them down, share them with others, are intentional about them, are conscious about them or not,…

Last Sunday, we had our first prayer and intercession meeting of 2024. As we just started fasting together as a church family in January, it seemed fitting to start the year off with prayer. We had 19 people join us for intercession, which definitely exceeded our expectations for the meeting as we had to keep expanding our circle of seats as people joined! This was the largest in-person intercession we’ve had since the pandemic, so it was great to start…